


A Bracelet and a Thought

by amethystfairy



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluffy Ending, Gift Giving, Hurt/Comfort, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Light Angst, Look I fixed it, Love Languages, M/M, Multi, Roman is a sad boi, There are only two chapters, but it's showing a ?, so I have no idea what's going on
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-28
Updated: 2019-09-01
Packaged: 2020-07-23 11:22:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20007487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amethystfairy/pseuds/amethystfairy
Summary: Roman finds a trinket at a garage sale.





	1. Alone

This was so, incredibly stupid. 

Roman knew this. Of course he knew this. It was a stupid, irrational thought, and it made absolutely no sense. 

And it's not like the others never got him presents! There were presents from Christmas, and his birthday, in his closet, his drawers, all tucked in various places in his apartment, to look at or use. 

And of course he was grateful for them. And of course he knew his friends loved him. But...

Roman sighed, and fingered the bracelet again. It was a small item, probably costume jewelry, but it had been packaged with such care.

He had been volunteering. His drama troupe was putting together a garage sale to raise funds for costumes and props and the like. He had been in charge of organizing the items so that potential customers could see them. He would help sell things too, of course, but he couldn't help as much on the actual day of the sale.

As he had been setting up, separating the donated items and placing them into their respective categories, he set aside items that he personally liked to purchase when he was done. The bracelet had been a throw-in item, a gut choice as he was heading out. He hadn't really thought much about it at the time. He went to one of the crew members, Thomas, to pay for the items, and let someone know he was heading out. 

He stopped at a couple of places, the gas station for gas and a car wash, the grocery store for milk and bread, then finally made his way home. 

Once there, he tossed the items by the door of his apartment, then spent some time making food for himself and tidying up. 

All in all, it was a while before he got to the bracelet. 

When he finally finished up his nightly routine, he spent some time looking through his finds. He tried on the few shirts he had found to make sure they fit, then tossed them and TARDIS bed sheets into his laundry hamper (he was still astounded by that find). 

Then he turned his attention to the bracelet.

It was in a small plastic box with a clear lid, nestled in black foam that was falling apart. It was a simple chain, with a small charm set with some kind of jewel.

It was cheap. It was small. It had probably cost a couple bucks.

Yet it brought him to the verge of tears.

There he was, Roman Prince, standing in the middle of his room, staring at a chain around his wrist and willing himself not to cry.

Because his friends loved him. His family loved him. He knew this.

Yet... looking at that bracelet, he couldn't help but imagine the stories that went along with it. Maybe it was given as an anniversary present, a symbol of time and effort culminating in love. Or maybe it was a going away gift, to keep the spirit of a loved one near. Maybe it was a just-because gift, or a birthday gift, or a Christmas gift.

In any case, the message was clear: "I love you. I love you. I love you."

A moment passed. Then another. Roman let himself imagine what it would be like to be loved like that. Then the moment passed, and he shook himself. He was loved. He knew this. 

He carefully put the bracelet back on the disintegrating black foam and closed the box. 

He turned off the lights. Got in bed. Closed his eyes.

He was loved. He knew this.

So why did he feel so alone?


	2. But never Forgotten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman vents. Patton listens.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back again with a chapter only my beta asked for, CHAPTER TWO! The relationship could be read as platonic or romantic (It was written as romantic though) Enjoy!

The movie was still playing in the background, but neither Roman nor Patton were paying much attention. They were chatting up a storm, their conversation roaming from anything to the book Roman had his eye on, to the new cookie recipe Patton wanted to try. All the while, Roman kept almost bringing up his thoughts, but stopped himself again and again. 

Finally, the dam broke. 

"Love languages are stupid."

"...What?"

Roman pressed forward, ignoring the voice in his head. "Love languages. Stupid. Well, the gifts one, specifically."

Patton extricated himself from the puddle they had melted into to stare at Roman, who was looking at the ceiling as if it held all the answers he sought. "Your love language isn't stupid Roman."

"But it is!"

"Ro-"

"No, Pat, it really is. Like... Look," Roman gestured wildly with his hands, sitting up to face Patton. "Gifts equal validation. But gifts equal material things, which equals clutter and clutter equals not good."

Patton opened his mouth, but Roman bowled over him. "Or: gifts equal validation, but gifts equal selfishness. Or gifts equal money and money equals guilt. Actually, a lot of things equal guilt when it comes to gifts. Because people took time or effort or money or all three and-" 

Roman was getting worked up now, and Patton wasn't sure what to do. "And everyone says that you shouldn't be attached to material things, and that you should lift others up or give service or spend quality time with people and that should be enough!"

Roman's voice cracked a bit as he continued. "And it should be enough. I spent so long convincing myself that I was fine with uplifting words or whatever, but clearly I'm not and it's like fanfiction, where the character is touch-starved, except this can't be solved with cuddling, Patton. There is no easy fix. And I'm so. tired. of it."

"Hey." Patton pulled Roman to curl up in his lap, his voice soft. Roman was tense, close to tears, and Patton had no idea what to do. Roman was right. This couldn't be fixed by a night cuddling. 

"I keep everything, Padre. You remember that bracelet you made out of a blanket scrap? I still have that. Someone gave me a wrapper as a 'token of their affection' and I still have it. I- It's just so stupid." 

"No it's not." Roman hmphed in disbelief from his spot in Patton's lap. "It's not stupid, and you are most definitely not stupid Roman."

"I just…" Roman's voice was small. "I just wish there was an easy fix, you know?"

The rest of the night was passed in silence. Patton combing through Roman's hair with his fingers as the movies dialogue droned on into the night.

~~~

It was a while before the subject was brought up again. Roman was... well, not over it, but resigned. Patton, on the other hand, was not. He couldn't stand to see Roman like this, especially now that he knew just how much he cared about them. All of their rooms were littered with little gifts from him. They may not have gotten it before, but now that they did know, Patton wasn't going to leave this be. It took a while, but finally- finally- inspiration hit. 

Roman was tidying the kitchen after his breakfast when he heard the knock at his door. 

"Patton! I didn't expect..." Roman looked past Patton at the other familiar faces, "all of you. What's up?" 

"We have something for you." Roman looked at Patton quizzically before letting them in. 

They went to the couch, Roman with a growing feeling of dread. Patton was holding a large box, and Roman had a feeling that Patton was about to make a fuss about something he was already resigned to.

"Patton, if this is about that love language thing, it's really not-"

"Princey, shut up and let Patton give you the gift." Roman gave Virgil a mock glare before returning his attention to Patton with a feeling of impending doom.

Patton was holding a large, wrapped box, and he held it out to Roman. 

"Well?" Roman looked up at him. "Open it." 

So, with some trepidation, he did. 

"Ta-da! What do you think?!"

"It's... a vase?"

And it was, indeed, a vase.

It was made of some sort of shimmery glass, about a foot tall, wider on the bottom than it was at the top. It was gorgeous and Roman felt mortified. 

Roman felt his heart sinking in his chest. They didn't get it- of course they didn't get it! His love language was stupid, but, Patton was looking at him with such adoration in his eyes. "Pat... you don't have to get me stuff just to get me stuff. That's not-"

"No, see, I know! It doesn't have to be big stuff, right?"

"...No?"

"Here." Patton reached into his bag and grabbed something, then turned to Roman expectantly. 

"What?"

"Hold out your hand." Roman did, and Patton set a small, red paper origami star on it.

"What's this for?"

Logan answered this time. "Since your love language is different than ours, we thought it best that we make an effort to speak your language, so to speak." 

"I still don't-"

"It's a gift! Well, you probably already picked up on that." Patton was bouncing as he spoke, waving his arms in an effort to clear the confusion that clouded Roman's face. "Whenever we want you to know that we love you, or when we do something for you in our love language, we'll give you a little star! And you can add them to this vase, and it'll be evidence of how much we love you!" 

Roman looked at Patton's face, shining with love and adoration. Then at Virgil looking at him with a quiet smugness, and Logan looking a little anxious and thought that he couldn't love them any more than he did in that minute. 

"You guys would do that for me?" His voice came out smaller than he meant it to, but before he could rectify it, he was swarmed by all three of them. 

They hugged him like they could hold him together at the seams, and for a moment, Roman believed they could.

"Of course we would, Roman."

"Of course we would."

"Of course."

Of course.

***

Truthfully, Roman didn't expect it to last. He loved his boyfriends for doing this for him, for taking the time and the effort, but he didn't really expect to get many stars. Not because he thought they didn't love him, but because it was a lot. One day, they were going to run out of paper strips, and forget to cut more, and that would be the end. He had the stars he had been given, and that was enough for him. It was enough that they cared. 

He really should have known better.

The stars never stopped coming. Oh, sure, they slowed down in frequency, a little, but Roman added to his vase at least once a week. There were red and green stars at Christmas, filling up a stocking. Red stars after performances, nestled in flowers. Gold stars from his birthdays, more than he could count. 

There were stars with doodles and puns that smelled like vanilla and comfort, stars on notebook paper, hastily folded like the love it represented was a matter of urgency, black stars folded in the middle of dinners and movie nights and pressed into his hands like promises.

Roman filled up vase after vase with stars, proudly displaying them in his room. And when he went on tour, he took a small jar full of them with him (not to mention the ones he found in his suitcase, his script, the one in a letter, or the ones he was instructed to make by text). 

They became a staple in his life, quiet "I love you's" that surrounded him. And he still felt lonely sometimes. Such is life, after all. But now he looked at the small paper promises and knew that he was so, so loved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look, I fixed it! As always, thank you to the most wonderful beta in the world, AngelwingsandDemonthings! They listened to all of my real life rants and helped me to find a happy ending for this fic. Love you!
> 
> Comments feed the soul. And goodness knows I have too many of them to feed on my own.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed! This turned out a little ventier than I expected, but oh well XD. I might continue this, I'm not sure yet. Let me know if you want to see a second part!


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